A Ribbon Cutting, But ...

A ribbon was cut Monday morning to mark the opening of additional lanes on Highway 100 from Highway 47 to a point beyond High Street. However, the $6.2 million project is not complete and has not been accepted by the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT).

Striping also was done Monday but it is not the final marking of the lanes. That will be done later when the weather is more favorable.

Area Engineer Judy Wagner made it clear Monday morning that the project has not been accepted by MoDOT. There still is considerable work to be done. She said the improvement will not be accepted until it is a “quality” project. Wagner attended Monday’s meeting of the Washington Area Highway Transportation Committee.

It was pointed out at the meeting that the citizens of Washington expect a “quality” project. The city is paying half the cost of the work from funds from the city’s half-cent transportation sales tax. There have been delays in the project due to the weather, extra design work, utility relocations and redoing some work.

There has been concern expressed about the “quality” of some of the work and safety due to the lack of marking of the lanes. The safety as far as unmarked lanes is concerned was addressed by the temporary striping work that was done Monday.